Technology transitions are occurring at an increasingly rapid rate, and thus, parts used in the design of products are also being replaced at an increasing rate. Previously, when a supplier decided to discontinue a particular part or line of parts, the supplier was willing to maintain for its customers or users of the parts some inventory for a relatively long period of time for use as spares, replacements, etc. However, over time, suppliers have been less willing to provide this service. The suppliers no longer want the responsibility of having inventory on their books and having to scrap the unused inventory.
Since suppliers do not want the responsibility for maintaining the inventory, a process has evolved in which a supplier announces that it is discontinuing a particular part, thus, allowing the users of that part to place a last time buy order for a desired quantity of the part. To place the order, the user has to estimate the number of parts to be requested in the order. Typically, the user estimates high, so that the user is able to fill future orders for the products using that part. Now, it is the user that has to maintain the inventory and bear the costs associated therewith, including the scrapping of any unused parts.
The expense of last time buys and maintenance of parts inventory is considerable. Thus, a need exists to minimize those costs. In particular, a need exists for a capability that minimizes the use of parts at risk of reaching their end of life prior to the products for which the parts are usable.